Can anybody explain to me how the draft works?

[MJ(Mean John)]

I understand everything except the way that you choose 1-14
i know that if you win the lottery you get the 1st choice. But dont they announce the 14 pick first? so how does that work? do they put more balls in for them or what?
thanks.

[SoCalMike]

Does this help you?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_Draft

[magicmanfan]

Originally Posted by MJ(Mean John)

I understand everything except the way that you choose 1-14
i know that if you win the lottery you get the 1st choice. But dont they announce the 14 pick first? so how does that work? do they put more balls in for them or what?
thanks.

Here's what I understand about the process:

1. all 14 teams who did not make the playoffs are in the lottery.
2. based on record, you get a certain number of chances at getting
one of the first three picks, with the worst teams getting the best chances.
3. after the first three picks are chosen using the lottery, the rest of the teams are put in reverse order of record in the previous year, therefore, the worst team last year can never pick lower than 4th overall.
4. if teams have identical records, they flip a coin to determine lottery position and selection position

All of this is done the morning of the draft and announced later.......nothing is done live.